FIG. 1 depicts a schematic diagram of telecommunications system 100 in the prior art. Telecommunications system 100 comprises telecommunications network 101; telecommunications endpoints 102-1 through 102-G, wherein G is a positive integer; and call-processing servers 103-1 through 103-H, wherein H is a positive integer. The elements in system 100 are interconnected as shown.
Telecommunications network 101 comprises one or more subnetworks that enable the devices depicted in FIG. 1 to communicate with each other. For example, network 101 might comprise the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), as well as an Internet Protocol-based network and other networks of other types (e.g., cellular network, local area network, etc.). Network 101 comprises infrastructure such as switches, routers, and transmission facilities that enable telecommunications service, such as calling capability, to one or more of telecommunications endpoints 102-1 through 102-G.
Telecommunications endpoints 102-1 through 102-G are capable of originating and receiving calls for end users. Endpoints 102-1 through 102-G are of various types that can include Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) endpoints, Internet Protocol-capable endpoints, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based endpoints, cellular endpoints, WiFi-enabled endpoints, and so forth.
Call-processing servers 103-1 through 103-H are data-processing systems that provide telecommunications services to endpoints 102-1 through 102-G. At least some of servers 103-1 through 103-H control calls from one telecommunications endpoint to another, such as from endpoint 102-1 to endpoint 102-5, for example.
One or more of call-processing servers 103-1 through 103-H are also capable of processing signals that are transmitted to or are received from endpoints 102-1 through 102-G. Specialized computer programs that embody signal processing algorithms perform the processing. Sometimes, each computer program is intended to process signals associated with one endpoint only, sometimes each computer program is intended to process signals associated with multiple endpoints, and sometimes multiple computer programs are needed to process the signals associated with one or more endpoints.